SHOW TAKES FOND LOOK AT HOLLYWOOD MUSICALS Arizona Republic; Phoenix; Apr 26, 1995; Alfredo Azula, Staff writer;

There's no business like show business.

Just ask the members of The Entertainers, a troupe of senior performers based in the downtown Westward Ho apartments preparing to perform one of their two biannual shows this weekend.

Their newest production is a fond look back at Hollywood musicals of the 1940s and 1950s that recalls the movies of Fred Astaire and Bing Crosby. The musical is called -- appropriately enough -- "No Business Like Show Business."

"A lot of what's going on downtown is really for the younger people, stuff the older people don't care for," said writer-director Shirley Hopka, who also plays Peaches in the show.

"We've got some of the older music, from Broadway shows and the like."

Hopka's production is centered on the travails of a Broadway trio -- Skeeter, Saul and Mary -- whose act is splitting apart.

Skeeter retires to an estate in Tahiti, which sets up a segment modeled after the classic musical movie "Holiday Inn," in which musical productions honoring various holidays are performed.

Also featured is the work of Carolita's Na Hula Lea hula dancers and the Style Dancers tap-dancing troupe.

In addition, Hopka's script pays tribute to vaudeville and burlesque shows, Charlie Chaplin and the comedy duo Burns and Allen.

The musical is scheduled to be performed Saturday and Sunday at 2 p.m. in the Concho Room of the Westward Ho, 618 N. Central Ave.

Tickets are $3 for adults, $1 for children 12 and under, and $1 for residents of the Westward Ho.